The Girl Who Created Nicknames
by tkelparis
Summary: Amelia Pond's life is turned upside down by a family led by a man with hedgehog hair and a ginger wife. Later, Amy runs with them... Eighth in the "Riverlets Through Time" series.


**Title**: The Girl Who Created Nicknames

**Series**: Riverlets Through Time

**Rating**: T

**Author**: tkel_paris

**Summary**: Amelia Pond's life is turned upside down by a family led by a man with hedgehog hair and a ginger wife. Later, Amy runs with them... Eighth in the "Riverlets Through Time" series.

**Dedication**: nini_cuddles. Hope you don't mind me going into what's supposed to be Eleven's realm.

**Disclaimer**: Nope, still not on screen...

**Author's Note**: With regeneration averted and those cracks sealed... let's see what sorts of madness Amy and Rory would've seen. Prepare to laugh over this ginger's observations on Donna's Skinny Boy!

* * *

><p>Little Amelia Pond knew she was a bit of an oddity. A Scottish accent where her parents were English, insatiable curiosity that got her in trouble with her teachers, and ginger hair.<p>

The accent was explained by her father's work taking them to Scotland for several years. She just picked up the accent and never dropped it. As much in honour of a nice friend she had as anything those teachers or other meddling adults would claim, thank you!

Her curiosity at least wasn't discouraged at home, but her parents would tell her to curb it a bit at school. Few teachers liked someone who challenged them, Mum would say. Well, Amelia thought, what if she got some brilliant idea from asking questions? Who knew what she could become if they would only answer her?

The hair was perhaps the bane of her existence. Every kid teased her at some point. Oh, except Rory. He was nice and liked her hair, which made him instantly her best friend. Boys and girls could be best friends, after all! Although, despite seeing pictures of relatives with ginger hair, she couldn't help but wonder sometimes...

Of course, her asking questions one day saved her school and everyone in it! Some monster was attacking them, and she was the first to see it! She'd been telling them that something was hiding in the cupboard for days, and she'd been sent home for it! When Mum and Dad and her aunt were all out! She was terrified for them all; she didn't want anyone – even those mean kids – hurt, and she liked most of her teachers. She prayed to Santa for help, even though it was the wrong time of year...

As soon as she finished talking, she heard something crash in her backyard. She looked out her window and saw- Well that was weird! It looked like one of those old police boxes that were already long gone! She'd only ever seen one in her parent's photos!

She ran out just in time to see people coming out, some smoke coming after them. A young blonde woman was holding a cloth over the mouth of an older blonde woman, (Why wasn't the younger one having trouble with the smoke?) carrying a baby tucked tightly against her. A young man with hair that couldn't decide if it wanted to stay flat or be upright helped an old man, who covered his own mouth with a cloth, out. (The young man wasn't having any trouble, either!) Behind them, a man and a woman between the pairs in age were using fire extinguishers on the insides of the thing, which was making all sorts of weird noises.

How could they all fit in there? Did they come from the sky? Did that mean they were... aliens?

The older blonde woman noticed her first, over the indignant complaints of the man with the extinguisher. Something about the Old Girl being exhausted. When he turned, Amelia noticed that he looked like an older version of the younger man – except his hair had no trouble deciding it wanted to escape gravity. The older blonde ripped the cloth off her face and demanded to know what the girl was doing out here all alone.

That got everyone's attention. The middle man with the wild hair slowly walked up to Amelia, introduced himself as the Doctor, and the woman standing with him was Donna, his wife. Donna looked at her and asked what she was doing out of school on a weekday that wasn't a holiday.

Amelia was in enough shock over the sight that she forgot all the warnings her parents had ever told her about talking to strangers and told them her name. The Doctor looked at her hair in fascination, commenting it was almost like Donna's. Only then did Amelia notice that the third woman was a ginger – with the most vibrant shade! It was enough to make her ask whether the Doctor and Donna were her real parents.

The two sputtered in surprise, and the rest had huge eyes. Donna shook her head hard, saying she'd only just had a baby for the first time in her life a few days ago – for her. (Amelia wondered about the pause in her speech.) The Doctor pulled out a weird little rod with colours and buttons, and made it make some funny noise as he waved it up and down in front of her. No, he declared, she wasn't related to them.

Amelia was a little disappointed. It would've explained a lot about her life.

The Doctor, either ignoring her reaction or pretending to ignore it, introduced the others. Jenny was the young blonde, and their daughter. Ben was their older son, and their baby was Tommy, held by Sylvia, the kids' grandmother and Donna's mother. Finally, the kind-faced old man was Wilf, Sylvia's father and Gramps or Great-Grandy to the others. Behind them was a spaceship he called the... TARDIS.

Spaceship! He was an alien! His children were, too! Amelia had wondered more than once whether Santa might be an alien to manage all those presents to all the children, so she decided that they'd been sent to help her! She of course didn't expect to get a Hedgehog-hair man, though.

The Doctor sputtered over the name. Jenny was baffled, but Donna and Ben burst into laughter. The Doctor looked indignantly at them which only made them laugh harder. Sylvia and Wilf were trying to hide smiles as they both tended to the baby, who was giggling in time with his mummy's laughs. Jenny demanded an explanation. Amelia asked if she'd ever seen a hedgehog. Jenny hadn't, so she described one. Then Jenny looked at her father's hair, and giggled.

Amelia watched as the Doctor dropped his head back with a groan, muttering about being surrounded by cheeky people as he rubbed his neck. Finally, he sighed and asked what was wrong that she thought she needed help. So Amelia quickly described the monster she'd seen, and that no one believed her. He looked pensive, like she'd said something familiar to him, which encouraged her to add about how she'd been sent home today for biting the counselor who told her she was crazy.

Donna had smiled a bit, finally calming down. That, she said, sounded like a proper ginger. Amelia grinned as she learned that Donna had incurred that punishment a few times, but it was over insults about her hair. As much as Amelia hated knowing that this lovely woman had been teased, it was still good to know that she wasn't alone.

The Doctor sighed. His ship wasn't going to be able to travel for a little bit, so they might as well go investigate. Though he wasn't crazy about taking his youngest and his grandfather-in-law with them, it was quickly evident that they weren't letting the others out of their sight just yet. Fortunately, Amelia knew there was a coffee shop close enough by that Sylvia and Wilf could stay with the baby for a bit. It had some sausage rolls that Wilf insisted on having despite his daughter's admonishment. He said that after the day he'd had, he'd earned a little treat! (Amelia wondered about it, but sensed that it was a sore subject and connected to why the ship couldn't fly at the moment.)

Once they were dropped off, the Doctor and his family (although the Doctor acted like he was the one in charge, Amelia had the feeling that Donna was the one who really called how things would be, and it made her smile) let Amelia lead them to her school. It was playtime, and Rory spotted her from the playground. He ran over to the fence, glad to see she was okay and asking who her friends were. She introduced them, not leaving out the nickname – drawing a grin from Rory, a groan from the Doctor, and laughs from his family.

Before they went right to the school reception, the Doctor asked Rory to confirm the date. The boy was stunned, but Donna coaxed it out of him. She grinned, commenting that her husband wasn't the only one with a ginger fixation. (Amelia grimaced over how readily Rory answered Donna's questions. _She_ was the resident bossy ginger, thank you!) And Rory decided to tag along, risking getting into trouble; he believed Amelia wasn't seeing things, and he was curious about her friends. Amelia suddenly worried whether the Doctor could get in, but Donna said that he had a talent for getting into places he wasn't supposed to.

The receptionist and head teacher weren't helpful, even with the wallet the Doctor pulled out that told them he was some important official on a surprise inspection. He claimed that something like it had been reported in another school, and he was looking for common features. (Amelia liked how he thought on his feet!) They only reluctantly let him and his assistants, as he called his family, look at the places where Amelia swore she saw the monster. The first spot looked absolutely spotless to the head teacher... until the Doctor noticed some scratch marks that shouldn't be there, that – he added – didn't look like they could be caused by a kid in Amelia's class.

With each place, the Doctor found evidence that something wasn't right, vindicating Amelia that something had been there that shouldn't have been. It was then that the recess teachers reported that a few of the children had vanished.

Rory, being with them, was removed from the list. The Doctor took charge, and his family split up. Donna stayed with him to check the play areas, and their twins continued checking the spots Amelia reported seeing the monster, keeping her at their side. Rory stuck with the Doctor and Donna, a bit afraid to be away from what might be the only two adults who could keep him and Amelia safe. She didn't like him not tagging with her, but she accepted the Doctor's orders since he was listening to her.

Things got scary very quickly. One of the teachers that Amelia had liked suddenly turned on them, like one of those scary demon possession movies. Ben and Jenny stopped it, freeing the teacher and revealing that the monster was a bigger threat than they'd thought. Amelia asked how they should let the Doctor know, and Ben told her that they'd already told him. Telepathy, he said. She was in shock, even after they dragged her away to join their parents. Apparently, the Doctor knew which species this was, and that they were so territorial that they could only be dealing with a single entity.

The missing children – and several more were taken before the monster was trapped – were all found. But the monster tried one last trick, which forced Jenny to use electricity to kill it to prevent the deaths of any students. Amelia had never seen anyone die. A friend's pet, yes, but the Doctor said that the creature thought like a person did. Just... on the evil side.

It was scary... but no one disbelieved her now. She would take some small comfort in that.

School was out the rest of the day. The authorities had to be called in for clean-up, and some place called UNIT was sent in to help with the counseling. The Doctor and his family – after collecting the others from the coffee shop, of course – brought Amelia and Rory to her home, where the boy would wait for his own family to collect him.

The TARDIS seemed to have healed herself, which meant – the Doctor said – it was time to go back to their time. (Apparently some years in the future.) Amelia was very sad, thinking she'd never see her new friends ever again. The Doctor and Donna hugged her, promising that they'd check on her one day. The Doctor told her and Rory to look out for each other, to learn as much as they could, and Rory that he had good taste. Amelia had laughed, saying that they were just friends.

Donna smiled mysteriously. She leaned in and whispered to Amelia that sometimes your best friend was also the best person for you. That Amelia shouldn't discount someone for that.

She remained baffled by that for a while, but she let it slide as she watched the ship slowly vanish. The air kicked up around her and Rory, making them both laugh. They spent the rest of the wait in the garden, imagining all the things the Doctor and his family might do on regular basis.

Although Rory was mostly just playing along with Amelia's wishes. It was kind of fun, after all...

The years passed. Amelia became known as Amy (it sounded more serious somehow, and she wanted to be taken a bit more seriously) and she and Rory grew up. He was a nurse, and a good one. She... was stuck as a kiss-o-gram. She'd stumbled into it, and kept getting hired. Probably had to do with the short skirts she favoured. She knew she had a good brain, but she struggled with school. It meant that she was at a disadvantage compared with a lot of her peers. Thank God Rory never looked down on her, but always encouraged her and stood by her side.

Even being vindicated hadn't reduced the teasing. Amy was still the lone ginger in the area, and that made things harder for her. Even growing up into a very pretty woman, as many of the young men admitted, she wasn't the first choice for anyone. Oh, there was this guy named Jeff, but she remembered how the Doctor had been utterly considerate of Donna, and absolutely apologetic if he offended her in any way. Sometimes, Jeff didn't have any patience with her at all, and she finally got a little too irritated with him one day and just dumped him.

After all, why shouldn't she be treated by a boyfriend – let alone a husband – at least as well as Rory treated her?

It was then that she understood what Donna had meant. And she realized why Rory had hardly dated when he was cute enough and nice enough to draw more girls to his side...

Of course, Amy was the kind of girl who would outright ask Rory whether he intended to do something or wanted to. He'd thankfully become used to it over the years, so he only sputtered for a moment before arranging to take her out on their first proper date.

He was certainly a bloke in so many senses, but that was part of his charm. He was also absolutely loyal and in love with her. She was deeply moved that his devotion was all hers, and felt very lucky.

It was a few weeks before their wedding that fate dropped a surprise in their laps. They were walking together, enjoying some rare time off, when they overheard a nearby mechanical sound that was imprinted on their psyches. The Sonic Screwdriver! Amy ran to investigate and Rory followed – as usual for them – and they saw the Doctor, Donna, and their twins staring down some weird creature. It made Amy and Rory cringe just looking at it, but it paid them no heed. It was more affected by the Doctor letting it know who he was, and warning it to stay away.

It hesitated a little longer than was probably wise, because Donna proceeded to give it what-for over its actions – endangering lives just so it could collect some trinkets – and made it shudder so much that it couldn't rush back into space fast enough.

Jenny laughed, commenting that the aliens seemed more scared of gingers than Time Lords. The Doctor wondered aloud how they would react to a ginger Time Lord. Donna swatted his arm, reminding him that it was too soon to know what these babies would be. Only then did Amy and Rory notice the gentle swell of her belly.

Amy called out to them. At first they didn't recognize her, until she mentioned her nickname for the Doctor. He hadn't forgotten being called Hedgehog-hair Doctor, but Amy's being ginger seemed to give her some leeway with him. To placate Donna, just in case, she addressed her as The Boss. The older ginger was pleased to no end, and the others nodded in acknowledgement of that truth. Amy quickly had names for all of them. Ben was Junior (Duplicate seemed unfair somehow), Jenny was Fleet-Foot (she wanted to acknowledge the gymnastics stunts she saw last time, but Bendy seemed insulting), and Tommy, the current baby of the family, was Squirt. (He just seemed like one.)

Better yet, she and Rory were invited to join them for an adventure! It was the best thing ever! Going inside a real spaceship, having the chance to go pretty much anywhere in time and space!

It took her a moment to realize that Rory wasn't so keen, but he'd follow her to make sure she was safe. She supposed that she might let Rory choose their destinations, just to make it up to him. She did notice that Donna at least pretended to let her husband think he sometimes ran the show – although Amy wondered how much the Doctor was aware that he was basically ruled by his wife and that they only pretended for the sake of keeping his reputation intact with his enemies...

So she started calling the TARDIS Blue. She commented it was at least until she got used to her and perhaps came up with something better. The strange twinkling she saw of the lights inside bothered her the first time she said it, but Jenny shrugged and said that the Old Girl didn't mind it and was letting her know.

Okay, that might be the weirdest part of the whole thing. The ship was self-aware, and probably had an opinion on everything said inside her. Amy decided she was going to be careful what she said, and try to be careful what she thought. If the Doctor and his children were telepaths, then what about the ship?

Of course, she quickly had to push those thoughts out of her mind. Between dealing with a ship that was a captured living being and then meeting Winston Churchill, she had plenty to think about. And that was before they ran into River Song... and watched the rampant confusion hit the Time Family...

TO BE CONTINUED IN "The Most Patient Nurse in History"


End file.
